


Boom

by innie



Category: Austin & Murry-O'Keefe Families - Madeleine L'Engle
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gen, Joshua lives, M/M, romantic gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27296164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innie/pseuds/innie
Summary: JOSHUA LIVES!
Relationships: Adam Eddington & Polyhymnia O'Keefe, Joshua Archer & Adam Eddington, Joshua Archer & Polyhymnia O'Keefe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12
Collections: Yuletide Madness 2020





	Boom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [victoria_p (musesfool)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesfool/gifts).



> Dear musesfool, this is not at all what you asked for, but it is what happened after I read your letter and realized how much I too wanted Joshua to live. I hope you get the story of your dreams!
> 
> (My fantastic beta's identity will be shrouded in mystery until reveals. Okeydoke, it's luna [on DW], whom I found through the magic of the Yuletide beta post. Thank you, luna, you were an absolute star!)

Adam's remembering how Joshua had sounded when he'd said — bellowed, rather — _I'll take you there someday._ For all the breath it took to make the words audible over the roar of the wind and the mechanical din of the plane, the words had still felt like a promise, a hushed vow. Even before Adam had committed, one way or the other, to whose side he was on, Joshua had offered himself up, holding his friendship out with both hands.

 _I'll take you there someday_ , his brain obligingly replays for him, like a melody or a chorus, and then Poly in her red woolen swimsuit runs by him into the water, a crimson streak of delight, and Adam hurries to follow her and see if they can both catch up to the figure in the hideous zebra-striped trunks.

The water slips over his head, making his ears go foggy for a moment, turning Poly into an alto and Joshua into a dark baritone. He stretches up into the light, getting his feet under him, and shakes his head, enjoying Poly's squeals as she's doused with the drops, catching Joshua's smile as he lies back and floats. He feels completely at home, here on the other side of the world, now that Poly is safe and happy. She's smiling as she makes her breathy clicks and whistles, the new shape of her mouth changing the sound of them; he wonders if the dolphins will find the difference alarming or inconsequential, unintelligible or just italics.

Adam's always been bright, always enjoyed having an academic whetstone to grind his intellect against, but this . . . this can't be _work_ , not when he feels such a sense of lightness buoying him up. Immersed in the water are two people he's come very quickly to love and a whole new world he's allowed to enter and study. That's Macrina there, playing with Poly, and Josh is still on his back, shooting water straight into the air between his two front teeth.

That's just an invitation to horseplay, and he indulges, the two of them winding warm wet limbs around each other and slipping free until Poly wades over to them, looking amused by their playful grappling even as she puts her hands on her hips in chastisement. "There's no need to work up an appetite," she tells them primly, looking down her nose at them. "María's cooking is worth savoring, not bolting down."

*

There's lunch, then work, the mechanical tasks his hands are already doing automatically, giving his brain the space it needs to untangle some weightier matters. There is sand on Joshua's trousers when they meet again for dinner around the big family table, and Adam hears about the precise physics the children needed to master in order to build sand edifices. Mrs. O'Keefe turns the conversation into a discourse on the history of concrete, Dr. O'Keefe chiming in, and Adam looks around at them, marveling at how many voices a family dinner can hold; he's not felt that since the last time he was at Juan's, helping himself to food as it was passed from hand to hand. Mrs. O'Keefe smiles, drawing the lecture to a close, and nods at Dennys, who stands, walks to the living room, and begins to sing, a clear boy-soprano.

It's "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" and they all join in, even Joshua, so Adam does the same; he's willing to go wherever Josh leads, and he knows the song — separation of church and state meant nothing to a school choirmaster with three concerts a year to organize and sheaves of sacred songs written in English. Dr. O'Keefe's face now, when he's with his family and singing alongside them, looks the same as it does in the lab, when the light from the tanks illuminate it from below. And Poly, Poly looks like one of those androgynous angels out of Raphael.

It sounds like he's the only bass in the room. He smiles as he sings, Joshua's tenor like ivy wrapping around the solid trunk of his harmony. Peggy cuddles into Josh, and Adam watches him dip his head to nuzzle at her, both of them still singing.

It feels like ages since he's sung this much, and by the time they finish with the Tallis Canon, he's very nearly ready for sleep though it's early enough that only the babies are drooping. His room must be the only guest room they have, where Josh is accustomed to sleeping. The bed is just big enough for two to share; he doesn't mind if Joshua doesn't.

But Joshua is saying his goodbyes, kissing the children from Rosy on up, and turning to him. "Do you have the energy to move?" he asks with a smile.

"Yes," Adam says, glad for the chance to have more time with him, and they go.

*

The Hayden Planetarium has always been one of his favorite places, since his parents took him for the first time when he was very small; his mom used to tease that the only way to get him to sit still was to drop him in one of the plush seats there and let him sink back, his head straight up. It feels a little disloyal to say now that it has nothing on Gaea, but it's true.

He and Joshua are on their backs on the golden grass of the clearing, looking up into the velvety darkness studded with stars. They seem so close, so bright, giving light enough to see by; out of the corner of his eye he can see Joshua's rapt profile. 

"There are so many of them," he says.

"Stars or O'Keefes?" Josh jokes.

He laughs. "Both. It's so much."

"I know. I've never had so many people wanting good things for me," Joshua says. "They adopt you and that's it, you're one of them. Instant family."

"Sounds alarming."

"Cosmic. Boom."

"How?"

"I wandered, ended up in Lisbon, and said I was happy to start at the bottom."

There's so much missing from that story, but it can't be simple to explain an entire life when drunk on starlight. Josh gives a little more. "I got here just before Dr. O'Keefe did, and I got to set up some of the facilities, checked out places for the family to live and work, that sort of thing. And then I met Polyhymnia, and —"

"Boom," Adam repeats.

"Nothing stands in that kid's way when she's got her mind set on something. Like having a big brother."

"And that's —? That's okay with you, just being scooped up like that?" Adam's not quite sure what he's asking, but he definitely wants to know the answer.

"I'm used to being on my own, and I like it. Poly's not, though I think she gets there in the water, with Macrina and without. They won't smother you, won't batter down your doors. Just remind you that you've got lines you can tug if you need them."

Adam relaxes all the way then and flings his hand out to catch Josh's. The words tumble from his mouth unbidden, like maybe the warmth of Josh's fingers drew them out. "Would you be a lifeline for me?"

"Of course we're friends," Josh says, and kisses his cheek just the same as he'd kissed Poly's before he turns to head across the sand to his plane. Adam watches him go and lets the stars guide him back to his bed.

*

He dials the number by heart; all he had to remember was the first digit and then the rest he'd memorized by translating each numeral into its equivalent in a major scale and whistling the tune to himself until it was as tenacious as the Tallis Canon.

"I can't do this," Adam says, clutching the phone desperately in his hand. Josh's breathing is steady and slow in his ear, and he wants very badly to mimic it, to ease his racing heart.

"You can. You've got both sets of papers, all those contacts, and Mrs. O'Keefe's shopping list and my phone numbers safe with your passport. You know exactly what you're doing."

That's not where Josh's numbers are, but he's not going to say so. "I don't want to see Kali," he admits. That's not whose face he sees when he closes his eyes at night.

"That would be a pretty nasty surprise for her, so maybe keep mum about that," Josh says lightly. "She's part of all of this."

"What if — what if I have a bad feeling about all of this?" he whispers.

" _Do_ you?"

"I —" The damnable thing is, he doesn't know. Back in New York, he was used to being self-sufficient, and now he feels like a pawn that's been abruptly promoted to knight but with his blinders still half-on. "I don't know." He's used to jitters before tests, but those go away once he's actually looking at the exam papers; this feels more like the sinking dread before he got into Josh's plane, and that had ended up being glorious. "Where will you be?"

"In my office until five, then home. Call me if you need me. I trust you, Adam."

*

Kali is late to meet him in the morning, and his heart lifts at the thought that this might all be unexpectedly simple. But there are people he doesn't know who seem to be following him as he does some shopping while he waits for Canon Tallis's first availability, and he cannot relax too soon.

He might as well go on as he began, he thinks, leaving the girls' department and heading for the boys'. He passes a rack of swimming trunks, each gaudier than the last, and sees one with fluorescent zebra stripes that brings Joshua back to the forefront of his mind. Joshua said he trusted him, and Joshua's deliberately kept himself too low in the hierarchy for anyone to worry about, and — Adam has a plan. He lets the bespectacled "student" following him around continue his chatter about his woeful love life and throws all of the t-shirts that he can find in his basket, along with underpants and socks. At the last minute, he hands the basket to his new companion and takes off for the men's dressing room, several pairs of pants draped over his arm.

Inside the dressing room, he strips off his jacket and pulls the real papers from their hidden pocket. The paper they are on is too soft and clothlike to rustle, and he folds them and puts them in the pocket of one pair of pants. He tries on another pair, just to make a show of inspecting himself in the mirror in case his new shadow is watching, and nods as if he's pleased. He emerges and lets himself look at his watch and frown when he doesn't see his companion with the basket full of children's clothes.

"A million pardons! A beautiful girl asked for my help," the man says, panting as he runs over to Adam.

"Your luck's turning around, then?" Adam asks, taking the basket back. He wonders if the man was off reporting to some unseen contact.

"Not at all — a gift for her boyfriend was what she sought." His English is improving by leaps and bounds.

"Too bad." He pays for his purchases and pretends to realize only then that he's just saddled himself with bags of children's underthings and play clothes that he'll have to cart around for the rest of the day. "I can't show up to lunch like this; they'll never let me in the door, and I've been told this place is fancy."

"Salâo da Chá is very much about money," the man assures him, and Adam nods as if he's worried. "Come! I will take you to the train station, where you can get a locker to store your parcels."

"Thank you," he says, and follows him out of the store.

Once they're back out on the street, it's easier to pretend he's getting his bearings back; he'd looked at Dr. O'Keefe's map while he was changing back into the pants he'd worn this morning. "The train station's at the other end of the city, isn't it? I can't make it there and back in time. I'm meeting her in thirty minutes."

"It is not so very far," the man insists, smiling a little more. He hasn't offered to take any of the bags; he seems to like that Adam's hands are full. 

Adam looks around and sees the American flag — the Embassy. Joshua is behind those walls, and Adam is stuck out here with this clinging man. "No," he says, as if he's been weighing the options. "My girl was supposed to be here already, and I don't want to miss her. I'll just go and beg the restaurant to take pity on me."

"I will walk with you," the man offers.

"Too far to walk," Adam says, huffing a laugh. "I'll take a taxi. It was nice meeting you. Good luck with your studies." He's enough of a New Yorker to hail a taxi even with his hands full, and one pulls up to him so quickly that he wonders if he's swapped one spy for another. He's committed now. "Salâo da Chá, por favor," he says.

The cabbie winks at him in the rearview mirror and he tenses, unclenching when he hears a whistle that resolves itself into the Tallis Canon. Adam stares stupidly as the driver tugs at his fake beard and pulls it back up; that second's glimpse is enough. "Arcangelo!" he exclaims, fervently glad to see him. "Here," he says, suddenly frantic, trying to slide open the glass panel between them, "I have the papers. You can get these to Canon Tallis or Joshua, yes?" His fingers are catching on the glass but finding no purchase. Arcangelo opens the panel and Adam shoves the pants through the opening, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders once he knows all he's carrying are the false papers that still need to be planted. Arcangelo slides the folded pants under the beaded seat cover and pushes the panel shut.

*

Kali's apparently enough of a regular that when he explains who he's meant to be meeting, they let him in despite all his bags, which take up a good portion of the balcony. "Adam, what is all this?"

"I got to the city earlier than expected and wanted to get the shopping done so I could spend the day with you," he says.

Her smile is dazzling but he's used to seeing truer emotions on less perfect faces — Poly's childish scowl, Joshua's expression of delight. She turns aside to speak to one of the staff, in rapid Portuguese, and the man bows and takes the bags full of shopping away. "We'll never be able to do any sightseeing if we're worrying about your things," she says quickly. "They'll hold them here until Daddy's driver comes for them."

 _I trust you, Adam,_ he remembers, and just the memory is enough to tell him how to play this. He can't be too compliant or else their suspicions will be roused. "Hey, no, there's a couple things for me, but the rest is for the O'Keefes, and they're expecting me tonight."

"On the six o'clock plane?" Kali asks, already pouting. "I thought we could do a proper dinner, a moonlit swim . . ."

"I do have work in the morning. It doesn't matter that it's the weekend." Only it did, because it meant that Joshua was going to fly him back to Gaea and stay until Monday morning brought back his official responsibilities.

"I'm beginning to think you love those stinky starfish more than you do me," she says, tearing apart a roll until it is in small useless pieces on her plate and there are crumbs everywhere.

"I don't mix — or compare — business with pleasure," he says, taking refuge in his menu. He cannot wait until tonight, when he can look into Joshua's grey eyes and speak only the truth and be trusted; all of these lies and evasions are making him feel like he's gasping for air.

*

The wind is roaring around the plane and Adam wants to stand and throw his arms up in triumph, but he's not about to throw off the balance of the little plane Joshua's piloting. "She took me back to her father's hotel and talked me into a swim," he roars.

"And the false papers?" Joshua yells back.

"Clearly copied and replaced by the time I had to change back into my clothes," Adam shouts around a stupid grin. He'd checked his watch all through the quick dinner Kali insisted on and let himself look disappointed when eight o'clock came and went while they ate their overcooked steaks. Even though he'd been aware that it was working, he'd been keyed up.

He doesn't know how Joshua lives like this, with so much anxiety and happenstance, but right now it is honestly exhilarating. Arcangelo had given the true papers to Joshua by way of sitting at adjoining tables at a small café at lunch — when Adam had been devouring prawns opposite Kali — and Joshua had hand-delivered them to the Ambassador, who was heading to New York that evening.

Joshua guides the plane down and Adam's stomach swoops with the movement. He's shakier than he realized when they land; his legs are jittering from the abrupt absence of adrenaline and Josh's arm around his shoulders is not just a pleasure but a necessity.

"Adam!" Poly shouts, darting across the sand, eager as a small child for a hug. It's no less than he expected, which is why it's such a surprise when she stops short a few feet from him and looks at them both. "Oh."

"Oh, what?" Adam asks, confused, unwilling just yet to step out from under Joshua's protective arm to mount the horse waiting patiently for him.

"Oh, that Kali didn't get her hooks in you this time either," she says lightly, taking his hand and leading him forward.

"He's had a long day, Pol," he hears Joshua say from behind him and wonders at the note of amused warning in his voice.

*

"I can't say as I blame you, Adam," Poly says when she brings him his breakfast tray in the morning. "Joshua is _eminently_ lovely."

He chokes a little on his juice. She laughs, and says, "And so are you, of course. I'm just saying, I understand why you look at him the way you do."

Adam can _feel_ the heat of the flush that climbs his throat and cheeks. He's been mooning over Josh that obviously? "I — I didn't mean —"

"You're just here for a summer job," Poly says with a kindness that should be beyond her years. "Nobody expects someone like Josh to just show up."

"Yes, exactly." The relief at hearing the truth far outweighs the discomfort that he's having this conversation with a girl not even in her teens. She's only four or five years younger than Kali but even once she gains those years she'll never be anything like Carolyn Cutter.

"All I'm saying is, maybe he wasn't expecting _you_ to show up either," she says, kissing his cheek on her way out the door. "But we're all glad you did."

And there it is. Boom.


End file.
